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PARKER – The goal of the recent ‘Most Important Night in School Security’ at Cimarron Middle School was to encourage parents to become more informed and involved when it comes to the security at their child’s school.

“Student wellness does not begin and end at the sound of a school bell, so our sincere hope is that you will see the importance of understanding safety, procedures at the school level, that you will understand the importance of being involved in the conversation of keeping our kids safe and that some of you will take action to keep our community safer,” said Cimarron parent Dave Posey.

Cimarron’s Parent-Teacher Organization brought together a panel of experts to talk and answer parents’ questions about everything from DCSD’s innovative School Marshal Program to the Standard Response Protocol.

“Our school district leads the charge, across the country,” said Cimarron parent Lacy Matthews, at the beginning of the event. “You will hear tonight about things that are happening no where else. I bet, if you are like me, you will walk out of here very proud to say you belong to this school district.”

Prior to moving to Parker last school year, the Dave and Carly Posey’s 7-year old son witnessed the Sandy Hook tragedy. Since then, the family has become very active, working with their children’s schools to not only ensure the highest level of security, but to inform parents about the importance of the layered safety measures.

One of those measures is the Standard Response Protocol, a communication system created by the i love you guys Foundation, following the September 27, 2006 tragedy at Platte Canyon High School. Following the shooting that took his daughter Emily’s life, John Michael Keyes found that many schools and first responders had different ways of communicating during an emergency, including levels and code words, which might have caused further confusion during a crisis.

“I'm serious, I've heard this: Bart Simpson is in the building is really not an indicator or crisis, nor is it any advice on how to respond. If there is a bad guy in the building, he already knows it. We are not fooling him,” Keyes said during the March 13 event.

The system created by the i love you guys Foundation, simplified communication into four simple commands: Lockout, Lockdown, Evacuate and Shelter.

“I think parents can think of it as where the threat is. If there is a threat outside of the building, we'll do a lockout. If it is inside of the building, we'll do a lockdown,” Keyes explained.

VIDEO: Watch what the four SRP commands mean.

Keyes says it is extremely important for families to have discussions about not only school procedures, but also what they’ll do during an emergency.

“Parents need to have that safety conversation in advance. If something happens at the school and a student self evacuates where will they go. Have you had that conversation before it has to happen,” Keyes said.

He is impressed by how the Douglas County School District has implemented the SRP and other emergency protocols, as well as its focus on continuous improvement.

“I think Douglas County is doing a tremendous job,” Keyes said. “The safety team that is assembled at the District level is one of the best in the country. They're very deliberate, contemplative and then active in their training.”

March 18, 2014 | By rmbarber | Category: Safety and Security

District News

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